The field of the invention relates to telephonic communication systems and more particularly to automatic call distributors.
Automatic call distribution systems are known. Such systems are typically used in an organizational context as a means of distributing telephone calls among a group of agents of the organization. Agents are typically segregated into groups to serve particular call targets of the organization.
Often the organization disseminates a single telephone number to its customers and to the public in general as a means of contacting the organization. As calls are directed to the organization from the public switch telephone network (PSTN), the automatic call distribution system directs the calls to its agents based upon some algorithm, typically based upon availability. For example, where all agents are considered equal, the automatic call distributor (ACD) may distribute the calls based upon which agent position (telephone) has been idle the longest.
In other systems, where skill is considered essential for call handling, a call may be directed to an agent (or agent group) considered the most skilled for the call considered. In these systems, a database of customer records is maintained. Customers are identified to the ACD and database by features such as automatic number identifier (ANI).
In order to staff an ACD, an organization often relies on historical levels (in Erlangs) of incoming calls to the individual call targets. A manager of the ACD may examine the historical call loading records, add or subtract a percentage of the historical loading based upon a most recent call history (e.g., the most recent week or month), and estimate a staffing level based upon those calculations. Alternatively, some organizations have relied upon commercially available predictive software (i.e., force management packages) which calculates daily staffing levels based upon historic information.
Once daily staffing levels have been estimated, agents are scheduled based upon those estimates. Where more than one organizational call target is involved (e.g., sales agents, service agents, outgoing call campaign agents, etc.), requiring different agent skills, each group is separately staffed based upon an Erlang estimate for that group.
Once a staffing schedule is established, agents report for work as scheduled and sign into the ACD. Once signed in, the ACD continuously assigns calls based upon the currently used assignment algorithm. Such algorithms do not typically accommodate the preferences or needs of the agents.
For example, as an agent approaches an end of his shift, he may receive a call, which extends past the end of the agent""s shift. Such calls may not only inconvenience the agent, but may also result in overtime pay without a supervisor""s knowledge or authorization.
Further, supervisors may set staggered break schedules for their agents to ensure sufficient telephone coverage during break periods. Unfortunately, the variable nature of call arrivals may disrupt the schedule, again resulting in overtime or missed breaks. Because of the importance of ACDs, a need exists for a means of coordinating call delivery to agents with the needs and work schedules of the agents.
A method and apparatus are provided for reducing deviations between worked hours of an agent and a schedule of hours for the agent. The method includes the steps of determining a metric comparing a work status of the agent during a time period with a scheduled status of the schedule of hours and comparing the metric with an agent call assignment threshold and when the agent call assignment threshold exceeds the determined metric, preferentially assigning calls to other agents.